Review Blog

Jul 30 2017

The girl who drank the moon by Kelly Barnhill

Algonquin Young Readers, 2016. ISBN 9781616205676 (hardback) ISBN
9781848126473 (Paperback)
(Age: 10+) Highly recommended. Fantasy. Locus Awards 2017. Newbery
Medal (2017), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee
(2018), Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction
and Fantasy (2016). Every year a tiny baby is left in the forest as
an offering to the witch. The people of the Protectorate believe
that this is the only way to keep the witch from terrorizing their
town. But the reader soon discovers that the witch Xan, is not evil,
instead she collects up the abandoned baby, fills it with some
starlight and takes it to the other side of the forest where as a
Star Child it is loved and wanted. One year Xan takes a baby and
instead of the little girl being filled with starlight, she
accidentally is fed with moonlight and becomes enmagicked. Xan
decides to keep Luna the baby and together with her friends, Glerk
from the Bog and Fyrian, a tiny dragon, brings her up, but as her
magic grows wild, Xan is forced to lock it away until her 13th
birthday. As Luna approaches her 13th birthday, she finds that she
must protect her friends.
This is a beautifully woven story with fully realised characters,
from the witch Zan, who is loving and wise, to the sinister Sisters
in the tower and the elders of the town. I loved the little dragon
Fyrian whose personality brought many smiles to my face and worried
along side Luna's mother as she went mad with grief at the loss of
her daughter. The rich descriptions and the intrigue of the Elders
and the Tower will leave the reader breathless as they follow the
many characters who have been affected by the ghastly practice of
leaving a baby as a sacrifice.
As the many awards testify, The Girl Who Drank the Moon is
an outstanding fantasy and a must for every library. It would also
be a stunning read aloud in the classroom.
Pat Pledger